


Fate is Blind

by nerdsquad7076, Vereen



Category: Graceling Realm Series - Kristin Cashore, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Graceling Realm Setting, Angel of Death Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Astraphobia, Big Brother Technoblade, Chat (Character), Co-Written, Derealization, Do Co-Authors count as beta?, Dream gets to be sympathetic for one (1) second, Emotional Manipulation, Fights, Fire, Fluff, Found Family, Gaslighting, GeorgeNotFound is a Good Friend, Good dad Philza, Homelessness, Honestly niether of us know whats going on, Just for a hot second, King GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), LOOK AT THEM, Manipulative Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Memory Magic, No Romance, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pandora's Vault, Please Enjoy my interesting chapter titles, Protective Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo Deserves Better, Ranboo is a Good Friend, Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Skephalo, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Some chapters will be told from Ranboo's POV, Technoblade Hears Voices (Video Blogging RPF), The Exile Conflict, The Prison, This has no romantic subplots at all, Thunder-Phobic Ranboo, Toby Smith | Tubbo-centric, TommyInnit Deserves Better (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit is a good friend, TommyInnit-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Tubbo Deserves Better, Unfortunately Tommy does not have a gun, Villain Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, YOU GAVE THEM TRAUMA DREAM, You nasties, and Tubbo, and then he messes it up, big brother wilbur soot, but i cant use the hybrid tag, but we'll figure it out, dont worry theres a reason we have those tags, dream is a big fat jerk, dream is.... less of a good friend, i wish he did, in AU form, look at these boys, most of these people are graced, sapnap is a good friend, skephalo if you squint, technically, these boys just need a break, they give me serotonin whenever i look at them, tubbo is a good friend, whats the word, which is unfortunate, would make this much easier
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:54:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29597235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdsquad7076/pseuds/nerdsquad7076, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vereen/pseuds/Vereen
Summary: Until Tommy had been enlisted (read: forced into) the Graceling army, he’d had no idea how much the strings of fate could diverge. But it’s too late to change it, and he doesn’t even know how. For now, he just has to protect what family he has left, and keep them safe from the general.A Graceling AU Fic
Relationships: BadBoyHalo/Skeppy if u squint, Everyone's Platonic Babeyyy!!, No Romantic Relationship(s), Ranboo & Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 66
Kudos: 82





	1. Prologue: A Royal Lament

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone who doesn't know: this AU is based off of a book series both Nerd and Vereen have read. This story does NOT in any way interact with the plot of that series. The plot is entirely our own, and the only things that remain the same are a few locations, the general map of the area, and the graced. 
> 
> The Graced (Or Gracelings) are a group of people who have extraordinary abilities in one field, whether it be fighting, horseback riding, cooking, etc. (The abilities can also be things like predicting the weather, being able to tell what people's intentions are towards you, and possibly even mind-reading) The abilities are not usually known until the graced reaches around 12-13 years old, although it can be found younger or older. The only way to tell apart normal people and the graced are by their two-toned eyes, or heterochromia. This means that everyone (And we mean EVERYONE) in this fic who is a graceling will not have the same eyes that you would usually find descriptions of in regular fanfics about them.
> 
> You'll have to figure out their abilities on your own, though.
> 
> Have fun!

As he stared into the mirror, his eyes started back.

One black as a starless night.

One white as a snowy day.

They were still strange to him, despite them being his own eyes. He didn’t exactly like what they represented. They were weakness. Something he could not change or be rid of if needed. 

And so he avoided looking at them, simple as that. He wore a mask around the court, avoided mirrors when alone. He simply did not look at his eyes. 

But there they were, gazing into him as he gazed into them.

He closed his eyes, the black and white vanishing in a haze of dark gray. He took a deep breath. Once. Then twice. He opened his eyes again.

He had turned, perhaps instinctually, away from the mirror while he breathed. Instead of gazing into the mirror, he found himself staring at the sprawling city outside his room. He walked over to the open window and leaned outside.

The smell of fresh bread wafted from the kitchens below. He imagined the kitchen staff, hard at work, planning the celebratory banquet for the day.

It was a festival day, after all, and he could see royal workers, sent out with a decree from the king himself, lining the streets with strings of lanterns and bright, colored flags.

It was the anniversary of the city’s founding. The first day that the ancestors of the king had sat on the throne. He imagined what that day must have looked like: a small village, barely even one at that, declaring its independence and sitting a new king on the throne.

And now a new king, crowned only a few years ago, young and gentle, was celebrating that day. And he was going to be there. By the king’s side, celebrating from inside the guarded castle.

_Despite the general peace in the kingdom, there was a quiet unrest. Some of the citizens were unhappy with how they were treated. One had even broken into the castle and killed the old king._

_He was on his deathbed, sure, but it was a shock to the city and the people inside it. The man, one eye gray, one eye a hazy yellow, broke past the guards and into the royal chamber._

_He was there that day, not at the scene, but in the castle. He was with his friends, the young prince and a budding guard. They were sneaking utensils from the kitchen, seeing what the biggest thing they could steal without being caught was._

_Then they heard it. A cacophony erupted from the central tower. Guards rushed past to find the man who killed the king. The prince and his friends were escorted to a hidden cellar. Hidden whispers about “death” and “more of them.”_

_They caught the man, no problem. Even a man with great talent to fight cannot overthrow an entire battalion of highly trained guards. But at that point too many knew._

_About the king’s death and the man who had killed him._

_About the_ **_graced_ ** _._

 _There was chaos in the city the next day. It was announced to the public, for they deserved to know what happened, and as soon as the word_ **_graceling_ ** _came out of the herald’s mouth, there was a riot. The people of the city tore buildings from their foundations looking for anyone with heterochromatic eyes and hidden, maybe even_ **_dangerous_ ** _, talents._

_He hid in his room that day, windows shut, no light inside. No one knew he was there. No one knew about his eyes._

_But he was scared. Terrified._

_What would happen if they found him? A_ **_graceling_ ** _. In the king’s court. Friends with the prince. He had been able to hide it until then, under strategically placed locks of hair, or a too-big helmet he snatched from a guard while he wasn’t looking._

_But they weren’t looking then. Weren’t looking for two-tone eyes or secret skills._

_They were looking now._

_And what would happen if they found him?_

_A voice in his head told him he didn’t want to find out, told him he couldn’t find out. He had to find a way to hide it._

_He looked all through his room for something to hide his eyes, something to cover his face. An eyepatch maybe? Or a blindfold, that would do._

_Forcing the tears out of his eyes and the panic out of his hands, he searched._

_And searched._

_And then he found it. An old, blank, porcelain mask. It was from an old festival, several years ago. He was supposed to decorate it like one of the saints, but he never found the time, or the motivation to do so. He wasn’t an artist._

_He pulled it out of the closet and hugged it to his chest. This was his shield now, his only protection. He looked at it again. It was solid white, flat and empty._

_He tried it on. It was a little small, but it adjusted to his head. Surprisingly, he could still see his room. It was faded, and looked cloudy, but he could see outside._

_He took it off, looking over the front again to make sure it was solid. The places around the eyes seemed to be thinner, a light but strong mesh. It still blended with the rest of the mask._

_He put the mask back on, looking into the mirror._

_A blank mask, instead of terrified eyes, stared back at him._

And so he wore the mask. For the rest of his life, up to this point. It wasn’t the same mask, you see. He had replaced it.

Still white and porcelain, but a black smiley face prevalent on the blank mask.

He wore it everywhere, only taking it off when he was sure he was alone. 

He rarely looked himself in his own eyes. He hated his eyes.

Despite hating the eyes he was cursed with, he relished the power it gave him. He enjoyed the power he could get himself with a simple glance. 

Power given to him by the king. Given to him by others. Given to him by his grace.

Even if it was unknowingly given. 

That was the best kind. 

But power is never enough. There is always someone with more. Always someone who can escape the grasp of a ruler, even one as powerful as him.

And so he decided… for the sake of the city, but mostly for the sake of himself, to gather all the power he could find.

To unite all those with two-tone eyes. To find all the _graced._

It was easy enough to convince the king. A few words about the night several years ago, and how he was actually doing the gracelings a favor, taking them in.

The king was softhearted, and the king trusted him. And so it was done.

A graceling battalion.

All those with powerful graces united.

All the most powerful graces in the kingdom under _his_ control.

Their graces to bend and shape as he wished. All the power he could ask for, at a single word.

The king was going to announce it at the festival today, announce the collection of gracelings for the betterment of the country. Some might oppose, but most, those who found themselves beat by heterochromatic eyes, would rejoice.

And he was to be there, by the king’s side, as his most trusted advisor.

So he picked up his mask, covered his eyes, and walked out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hullo, Nerd here! I wrote this chapter :]  
> You can probably figure out who it is but if not I’m not telling. It’s a secret shhhhhh  
> Uhhh I think that’s it  
> Hope you enjoyed it :]  
> -Nerd


	2. Buy What You Can, Steal The Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter SBI + Tubbo!!! 
> 
> (And maybe a few hints as to what Tommy's Grace is???)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEYYYYYYYYYYYY GUYS!!!
> 
> I FRICKEN SPEEDWROTE THIS CHAPTER
> 
> DUDUDUDUU
> 
> -V

_ ‘Today is going to be a good day,’  _ Tommy thought to himself, quickly repeating it aloud to his partner in crime, Tubbo.

“Yeah, we’re gonna do so much _crime_ today Tommy!” Tubbo said with glee, brushing his bags away from his face so he could look up at Tommy for a second. 

Tommy caught sight of the green and brown eyes, before Tubbo’s long bangs fell over them once more. Tommy adjusted his blind fold that covered his own oddly colored eye. One purple, one green, in Tommy’s case. 

A festival was supposed to be set up today, for next week? Maybe? Tommy only knew that a big party = lots of people =  ~~ more people who could see his eyes ~~ MORE STUFF TO STEAL!!! (Which in turn equaled more food for him and Tubbo tonight.) 

The annual festival (For an event Tommy himself couldn’t manage to remember, probably someone important either did something or died.) was a  _ reaaaaally  _ big event, and it was probably the most activity Tommy would ever see his little city. (It wasn’t that little, and Tommy didn’t own it, but he knew it like the back of his hand, from the smallest cracks for hiding to the best alleyways to sleep in.) So active, in fact, that lots of people came in just for the festival, and the inns were always full. 

The only thing that could make the prospects of full pockets better was the windows without locks. The inns always tried to replace them, but the street people (But mostly just Tommy and Tubbo, although Tommy never met a bloke like him who didn’t appreciate what they did.) wouldn’t stand for that, and the locks always  _ mysteriously disappeared _ overnight. 

Even the worst of inns were filled to the brim during festival season. 

And Tommy was  _ alllll  _ there for it. 

So, for now, Tommy and Tubbo looked out on the city borders and roads with their limited vision, looking to see who came in, who had the deepest pockets, and who probably could stand to have a little gold leave them. 

Many people came in, just like clockwork, and not many left. From his perch on the rooftops, Tommy could see some old buddies of his, all regular humans, trying their luck with the people that wandered the streets now. 

They would never get far, especially since, apparently, the king had an announcement planned. There were lots of royal guards roaming the streets, but Tommy could care less about whatever-the-fuck King George had to say. The only thing Tommy cared about was making sure he had something to eat tonight, so they wouldn’t have to visit the goddamned  _ homeless shelter _ because that was shitty enough as it was. Tommy probably wasn’t even welcome, even if he met all the requirements to be allowed in, except one.

A small family-looking group waltzed past the guards, and Tommy only paid attention to them because they were all clearly  _ graced, _ and there was nothing covering their eyes. 

Brown and gold.

Green and gold.

Black and gold.

A family of  _ gracelings _ , unmasked, uncovered, and unafraid. What a spectacle. Tommy stared at them from his perch, wondering what their graces were. Probably some shit like flipping dough really well and doing cartwheels. Tommy wasn’t jealous of their really cool looking eyes.

Not at all.

He and Tubbo had enough food on hand to last them about a day, and they needed to find a way to get more. Quickly, Tommy pointed out the small family of three to Tubbo. 

“We have  _ got  _ to steal from those guys.” Tommy directed Tubbo’s stare, brushing the hair over to one side of Tubbo’s face. 

“Oh,  _ graced! _ Tommy look! Their eyes look very nice. The one with the green eye, you see him? I think the green looks a lot like mine, right?” Tubbo’s face was beaming, excited even if neither of them knew exactly who those people were, just knowing that their pockets were full, and soon would their stomachs be.

“Hm. No, I think the green looks a lot like mine, ya see? It looks a little more epic than super shitty green, I think. Like, uh, how would we be able to tell its even green from all the way over here, right? Not that your green eye is shitty, bitch boy. I think its really fucking cool, and I’m always right!” 

“Alright, Tommy! But, how are we going to get their money? We don’t even know their  _ graces _ . They could be things like super perception or something!” Tubbo shook his hair back into his eyes and began to climb down the walls into the nearby alleyway.

“You leave that to me, Big T!” Tommy followed quickly, looking at Tubbo. Something flashed behind his eyes, like a glimpse of a moment that had never happened before. 

_ Tubbo was sitting in a room with a fireplace, and it looked really  _ **_fancy._ ** _ Like, there was a really nice rug (He could probably sell it for a lot of coin) and there was a nice iron gate around the fireplace (Tommy knew that Steve down the road would pay enough for at least a week’s food) and even the  _ **_blanket_ ** _ that was resting on Tubbo’s shoulders was expensive-looking (Tommy would probably keep that one, although he’d have to keep it really well hidden. Maybe the crevice on 54th street?)!  _ ~~ He didn’t even notice Tubbo’s bangs were away from his face. ~~

_ “Hey T̴͇̃e̴̱̚c̷͈̈́ĥ̵̙n̷̠͊o̴̹͒!”  _ (The sound glitched out for a second as Tommy slipped on one of the bricks. He caught himself quickly, righting himself on the wall, but it was already too late. He could only continue and wonder who Tubbo had greeted.)  _ Tubbo had turned his head to look at an approaching figure, but try as he might, Tommy couldn’t make out any distinctive details. What was even happening here? _

Tommy landed on the ground and put his hand on the wall to steady himself. 

“You good, man?” Tubbo reached out to hold onto Tommy’s shoulders, in an effort to help ground his friend.

“I’m just fine, big man! Let’s go rob some rich bitches!” Tommy flashed a grin and sped off, grabbing Tubbo’s hand and speeding into the foot traffic.

It only took a few seconds for Tommy to grasp onto a few bags of coin, a rich-looking bracelet, and some sort of perfume bottle, but he continued to trod towards his target for today.

The black and gold eyed  _ graceling _ that wore the stupid hat. 

He eyed the man’s jacket, a simple green dyed leather one, a couple of pockets, but not a lot in them. Unfortunately.

His small purse told other stories though. Tommy could see the bulge of a coin pouch and maybe a few gems as well. Was that a loose bracelet Tommy’s eyes spotted? Hell yeah.

He made his way over, ignoring how the green and gold eyed  _ graced _ was eying him back. Tommy met his eyes with a challenge, and he felt great pride when the other guy looked away first. 

Pink hair looked stupid on him anyway. 

Whatever, time to pick black-eyed’s purse! He snuck over, keeping out of the trio’s line of sight, and watching as they talked to one another. The brown and gold eyed one, with brown hair and a red hat, looked really excited and held the pink haired guy’s hand, looking like he was practically  _ begging _ green-hat-man to let them walk away and leave their buddy unguarded. Black-eye sighed into his hand but then ushered them away with a flick of his wrist.

They left happily, and Tommy moved in for the kill. Metaphorically, of course. (Not that he knew what that meant.)

Tommy, with the sure-footedness of a gazelle on drugs, moved over to the green-hatted man’s side of the road. But he got there, and that’s what mattered. He snuck up behind the guy, and began to pick the man’s purse. He had grabbed the coin bag and had the bracelet in his grasp when the man turned on him, and Tommy had suddenly never felt more insignificant in his life. 

The man’s eyes were  _ breathtaking _ , even more so right here, than on the roof. The black of the left one (was it right? Maybe the term was my left, your right or something) contrasted wonderfully with the shine of the golden yellow in the right one. 

He wasn’t even afraid of this man having caught him in the act of thievery, he was so entranced by this man. Maybe this was his  _ grace _ ? Trapping people in a staring contest when they’d clearly done you wrong? 

Looking into his eyes gave him a familiar fluttering feeling, like how he’d felt with Tubbo on the roof. He’d barely had the time to process the emotion before he saw a string-like object flutter in and out of his vision. It seemed incredibly light, like a thin thread woven out of the stars. He was struck with the want to grab it, to hold it, to see where it lead him, but as he kept watch, it seemed to disappear.

He looked back at the man’s eyes, and was assaulted with a few flashes of visions, things that had never happened but did, all in that moment.

_ Tubbo and himself, being led inside a building, a shelter from the rain. The man in front of him held his hand, and the brown haired one held the door open.  _

_ The man, standing in front of the castle, face awash with anger and worry. _

_ A body, lying in a pool of dark liquid. _

_ A fireplace, where the man read out from a book to someone Tommy didn’t manage to catch.  _

_ The man holding a sword to some palace guards, fighting. _

_ The man holding a dagger to his neck. _

When Tommy finally looked away from the onslaught of images, he found that the last one was true, just in this moment.

He had a dagger to his neck, now. He had finally been caught, and it was now he was to pay the price.

The man eyed him for a moment, looked at his clothes (he stole these off a clothesline, he rather liked them), his face (he probably should have rinsed off in the rain last night but he was more worried about catching sick the night before their  ~~ final ~~ biggest adventure yet), and his blindfold (please don’t take it off, I don’t want people here to see please don’t take it off please  _ please PLEASE-) _ . 

Suddenly the dagger was gone, Tommy was on the ground, and the pink haired one was back, pinning him to the street. The bracelet was gone from his grasp as well, and Tommy caught sight of it firmly on the green-hat-man’s wrist.

“Techno, mate, let him up,” the green hat man sighed. The pink haired dude above him let out a noise sounding suspiciously like a grunt, but complied. 

“He was tryin’ to steal from ya, Phil! He prob’bly already has all your coin!” 

The green hat man- Phil- nodded his head. “Oh I know that. I wanted to see how far he could go. Where’s Wil, by the way?” 

Tommy heard a struggle behind him, and he hoisted himself off the ground and saw Tubbo firmly in the brown haired guys grip. His bangs were away from his face, but he had his eyes firmly closed. A bird somewhere whistled and another replied to its song.

“I caught this one trying to steal from me Phil.” The man’s voice sounded almost song-like, in the rhythm of which he said it, in the tones of which he used.

“Well,” Phil said looking at the two, “I don’t suppose they know each other?”

“LET GO OF TUBBO YOU BITCH!” The words left Tommy in a rage, and suddenly he was on the ground again. 

“Don’t you  _ dare _ try to attack my brother, orphan.” 

“Well don’t grab  _ mine,  _ bitch!”

“Techno, calm down. Let the kid go. You shouldn’t attack people you just met, even if they are pickpocketing me.”

“They caught you too, huh Tommy?” Tubbo said, aiming his head in Tommy’s general direction, but keeping his eyes firmly shut. “Guess this is it for us. Clingy duo, the best men around.”

“Wait wait wait Tubbo. If we’re going down I don’t want to go down like that! Pick a better man, like THE BIG MEN or some shit. How about The Street Swipers! That sounds intimidating!”

“Would you just shut up already? Listen, I’m assumin’ you kids don’t have a house or a family besides yourselves. Am I right?” Techno asked suddenly, interrupting Tommy from his wonderful name making process. Tommy nodded dumbly, before looking back at Tubbo with his one uncovered eye. “Well then, would you like to stay with us for the time bein’? We have an extra room, and if I don’t ask, then Philza’s going to.”

_ Wait wait wait. Hold the phone. Philza? Philza Minecraft? The business man? The guy who basically commandeered the whole trade market and had a  _ **_grace_ ** _? That’s who I tried to pickpocket? _

He didn’t even realize he said those things out loud until Philza Minecraft himself (in the flesh!!!) began laughing.

“Yeah mate. I’m uh, well, I’m Philza Minecraft. Nice to meet you. Now, like Techno said, would you like to stay with me- us, for the night?”

Tommy and Tubbo exchanged a metaphorical look. “Do you have a lot of food?” Tubbo asked excitedly, bangs falling back in front of his face.

Phil nodded, not that Tubbo saw it. 

“What’s the catch?” Tommy asked suspiciously. “What do you want from us, bitch?”

“Nothing, I promise! I just want to make sure you kids are safe, at least for tonight. The guards are coming back out and checking around for unidentified people, trying to take a census, I think. I’m not sure. Maybe they’re looking for  _ graces  _ again, but even so, I still don’t feel good about letting two kids alone at night. Especially with a storm on the way.”

Tommy glanced up at the sky, and even though there was only a hint of clouds on the horizon, he knew Phil was right. He didn’t know how he knew that, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it now.

Tommy thought for a minute, and was about to respond with a firm ‘no’ when Tubbo spoke up.

“Sure, as long as there’s free food!”

And suddenly Tommy felt like something had changed; he wasn’t sure what, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. Maybe fate was finally trying to get rid of him, or he was going in the right direction.

But, free food was always a plus, especially if it wasn’t the kind he got in the shelter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed!!!
> 
> Please send comments our way, I love reading them!
> 
> -V


	3. A Rainy Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy and Tubbo go back to Phil’s house.  
> Tubbo likes cats.  
> Tommy sneaks out, meets a new friend, and finds the sea.
> 
> (Also more possible hints at Tommy’s grace :0)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPEEDRUNNING CHAPTERS WOOooOOO  
> -N

Just as Phil had predicted and Tommy had known, it started raining a few hours later. Phil had sent Tommy and Tubbo off with the pink haired one, Techno, and the brown haired one, Tommy thought his name was Wil, to enjoy the festival. Phil himself went toward the castle; apparently the festival’s announcement was more important to him than to anyone else.

Tommy and Tubbo had never been to the festival before, not really. Of course, they had been in the city last year during the festival, but they spent most of their time picking pockets or purses, not enjoying the festivities.

Techno and his brother, Tommy learned his name was Wilbur, got money from Phil for snacks and games. The food was rich and the company pleasant, although Techno beat them in almost every game. 

When it started raining, the four boys met Phil back at the place they first met. Phil seemed upset over something, Tommy could tell, but he grinned when he saw them.

“Have fun at the festival?” He asked, eyes sparkling. The black and gold still entranced Tommy, but it wasn’t as strong as the first time.

“You bet!” Tubbo said, clutching a small stuffed animal to his chest. It was a little bee, striped yellow and black with a smiley face on the front. Techno had won it from a game, and when he saw Tubbo admiring it, he gave it to him. 

“We better get going,” Techno huffed, “The rain is starting to get heavier.”

He was right, as he was in most things apparently. Phil led the small troop down the crowded street. Tommy watched the other people’s full coats with gleaming eyes. It would be so easy to slip into the crowd and slip out again, hands full of coins and jewelry, but he felt gold and green eyes on him.

The rain began to pick up again, and Tommy and Tubbo were soon soaked. They didn’t have good clothes for this weather; they usually spent rainy days hidden away in alleyways, listening to stories from the others like them. Phil noticed their discomfort and took off his coat draping it around Tommy’s shoulders.

“Give it to Tubbo,” Tommy grumbled, taking the coat off. It was warm and heavy and Tommy  _ really _ wanted to wear it, but he knew Tubbo didn’t like the cold and the rain. 

Tubbo shook his head.

“You keep it, big man,” he said quietly, “I’m fine.”

“Bullshit,” Tommy spat, “Lookit you, you’re shivering.”

Tubbo was.

“I-“

“Why don’t you share the coat?” A voice behind them hummed.

Wilbur.

Tommy looked at Wilbur, then back to Tubbo. Tubbo shrugged. He walked over to Tommy, who draped the coat over both their shoulders. It was big enough to wrap around them, but they were a little squished together in the coat. It was warm and dry, and Tommy breathed with relief.

And so they waddled down the street next to Phil, Techno, and Wilbur, the last of whom could barely stifle his giggles.

* * *

The first thing he noticed about Phil’s house was the warmth. It was bursting from the seams with warm, golden light, similar to that of the man’s eye. A fire roared in the fireplace, candles flickered in the windows, and lamps decorated most available surfaces.

The city was never warm; even on the hottest summer days, there were shadows as cold as ice. Tommy couldn’t recall a time he’d been as warm as the inside of Phil’s house seemed to be.

There was a plush chair in front of the fireplace, a chair Tommy recognized. He was about to point it out to Tubbo, but Tubbo was staring up at Phil.

“Where’s your cat?” He asked, matter-of-factly.

“What?”

“Where is your cat? I know you have one. I want to pet it.”

“How-“

Tubbo stopped Phil by pointing to a small bed in the corner of the room.

“Where is the cat?”

“Uh, she’s probably in Techno’s room,” Phil stammered, as Tubbo took off down the hall. The rest of them shuffled into the living room, Wilbur falling into the chair next to the fire.

Tubbo came, a few seconds later, trotting down the hall with the biggest cat Tommy had ever seen in his arms. She had glossy black fur and great yellow eyes staring up at Tubbo.

Phil and Techno seemed taken aback.

“She likes you,” Techno said, confused, “She doesn’t like most people.”

Tubbo sat her down in front of the fire and plopped down next to her. He stroked her stomach and she purred contentedly.

“What’s her name?”

“Enderchest,” Phil responded, taking his coat off Tommy’s shoulders. Tommy bristled at the sudden contact, but he relaxed after the coat was gone.

“How did you get her to come to you?” Techno asked, sitting next to Tubbo. The cat- Enderchest- seemed to enjoy all the sudden attention.

“Oh, I just asked her to come out, said I wouldn’t hurt her.”

A weighted pause.

“What?”

Tubbo glanced at Tommy and pointed to his bangs. Tommy looked at Phil, at Wilbur, at Techno, and at Enderchest. He shrugged.

Tubbo lifted his bangs and smiled at Phil. His green and brown eyes sparkled in the firelight, but Tommy could see a flicker of uncertainty behind them.

“I asked her to come out, like I said.”

Another weighted pause.

Then a sigh from Phil.

“I should have guessed. The bangs, the way you closed your eyes when Wilbur held you. Do you know what it is?”

Tubbo nodded, then looked down to pet Enderchest once more.

“I understand animals, and they understand me.”

“That’s a powerful grace,” Wilbur murmured from the chair. He was all spread out on it, lounging without a care in the world.

“I guess,” Tubbo responded softly, “But I don’t really care about that. I care about them. The animals, I mean.”

He was quiet for a moment.

“They don’t care if you have two different colored eyes, or do things that shouldn’t be possible, or even if you’re a cat or a dog or a person.”

Tommy could see Tubbo’s eyes clouding slightly with tears, but he held them back.

“They care about kindness, and that’s something I can do.”

Phil turned to look at Tommy. He didn’t say anything, but he pointed to his own eye, the one Tommy had a blindfold over. Tommy shook his head and shot Phil a glare. Even if he knew he wouldn’t get thrown out  again for having a grace, he still didn’t want them to see his eyes. That hit too close to home.

A quiet, comfortable pause.

“I’m getting food,” Wilbur announced, jumping out of his chair and running to the next room over.

“Wilbur, get back here, we have guests,” Techno called after him.

“Technoooo, I’m gonna steal your potatoes!” Wilbur said in a sing-song tone.

Techno made a noise, something that sounded to Tommy like an angry squawk, and leaped after Wilbur. Phil chuckled, Tommy smirked, and Tubbo was still petting Enderchest. Phil took a step in the opposite direction of Techno and Wilbur, and he gestured for Tommy and Tubbo to follow him. 

“So, your room is down this hall here,” Phil said, leading Tommy and Tubbo down the narrow hallway. He opened the door to a small, plain bedroom, with two beds pushed against the left wall. A small lantern sat on a table between them, and three candles sat in a windowsill.

Tubbo jumped toward one of the beds, but Tommy gravitated toward the window. Through the heavy rain, he could see the sea. 

It was dark through the storm, a mass of writhing waves. Tommy knew the city was near the sea; he knew it every time he went to the eastern markets. But he’d never gotten to look at it,  _ really look at it,  _ before. The sea didn’t offer good food or a warm bed for the night, so it wasn’t worth anything to Tommy.

“It’s nicer on a clear day,” Phil whispered, coming up behind him, “The sea is flat as glass, green and blue, and you can see straight to the horizon.”

Tommy nodded absentmindedly. He was entranced by the sea, much as he was Phil’s eyes the first time he saw them. He couldn’t take his eyes off it.

A yelp from the kitchen and loud, boisterous laughter. Tommy blinked.

“I’ll make sure those two don’t kill each other, and make some dinner while I’m at it,” Phill said, leaving the room, “You boys can come out when you’re ready.”

He shut the door behind him.

Tommy, turning around and seeing the door firmly closed, took his blindfold off. He walked over and sat next to Tubbo, holding his gaze.

Dark green and brown met bright green and purple.

“Do you think we’re safe here, Toms?” Tubbo whispered.

“I think so,” Tommy said back, “Our eyes aren’t dangerous here, but there’s no telling what else might be.”

Tubbo fell back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling; Tommy joined him. The ceiling was painted, and Tommy wondered where someone got the money to paint their ceiling. It was awash with stars of all colors and sizes, in the shapes of some constellations Tommy knew well.

Orion, Pegasi, The Big Dipper.

“Are you gonna keep your blindfold on?” Tubbo asked.

Tommy just shrugged.

“We’re safe with them, you know,” Tubbo said, propping himself up on his elbow, “They won’t throw us out just because we’re graced.”

Tommy didn’t say anything, and his eyes were fixed on the stars. Tubbo climbed out of the bed. 

“I’m gonna go get some food, okay, Toms? Don’t die, big man.”

“Don’t die, bitch boy.”

Tommy heard the door open and close, and Tubbo was gone.

Tommy took a deep breath and climbed out of the bed once more, walking over to the window. The storm seemed to be lessening, and Tommy could more clearly see the sea. 

It was a dark blue-gray, crashing on the rocky shore. Tommy pushed on the window, and found it unlocked, easily pushing open. Thunder rumbled as Tommy climbed slowly out the window, but it didn’t scare Tommy. He had seen his fair share of thunderstorms, and he wanted desperately to see the sea.

* * *

The alleyways Tommy cut through were empty. The storm had washed everyone inside, and so he was alone.

He enjoyed it. 

The rain has softened to a gentle drizzle, even the thunder, which was loud moments before, had quieted. It was still there, mind you, but Tommy didn’t care.

He walked down empty alleyways, crossed emptier streets, watching the full buildings around him quietly wait out the storm. He walked down a familiar alley, between a often empty inn and a bustling tavern, and then he saw it.

A small, black shape, a person probably, shuddering in the corner of the alley. Against his better judgment, Tommy approached the person. As he approached, he became increasingly aware of the lack of blindfold over his eye. He winced at the thought of someone finding him out, but it was too late now.

He could see what the shape was: a boy, about his age, clearly lost and panicking. His face was covered in a black and white mask, and his eyes were covered by strange, tinted glasses. The boy locked eyes with Tommy (or at least Tommy thought he did, he couldn’t see the boy’s eyes), and held his gaze.

“My name’s Tommy,” he said, sitting down next to the boy, “What’s yours?”

The boy froze. He held his knees to his chest, but looked up into Tommy’s face.

“R-ranboo,” The boy stammered. He seemed afraid, although not particularly of Tommy.

Thunder rumbled overhead, and the boy- Ranboo- froze. Tommy could sense the terror rolling off of him. He was afraid of the thunder, it seemed.

“You scared of the thunder?” Tommy asked, “It can’t hurt you, ya know.”

Ranboo looked up at Tommy again.

“Is t-that what it’s called? I’ve never heard it before.”

“Really? You’re not from around here then, huh. Summer storms are pretty common.”

Ranboo shook his head.

“I used to live up in the mountains,” he said quietly, “We had snowstorms but nothing like this.”

“Snow? Like the white puffy stuff? It’s cold and I don’t like it,” Tommy huffed.

Ranboo chuckled.

“Yes, the white puffy cold stuff.”

A quiet pause.

“What do you wear all that for?” Tommy asked, pointing to Ranboo’s strange glasses and mask.

Ranboo stiffened. Tommy could sense an uncomfortable feeling emanating from him. 

He met Tommy’s gaze and cocked his head to one side.

“Your eyes…”

_ Here it comes _ , Tommy thought,  _ I knew this would happen. I try to help a lost kid and get outed as a graceling and arrested. I can practically see the guards coming down the alley and taking me to the dungeons. I wonder what a dungeon would look like- _

His train of thought was  interrupted by Ranboo.

“...they’re beautiful.”

“What?”

“You have pretty eyes. Sorry if-“

“No, no, thanks, I guess? Most people don’t like my eyes, or at least think they’re scary.”

“I have- I know someone with eyes like yours.”

Tommy stared curiously at the boy with the mask and glasses. He was dressed nice, almost as nice as Wilbur and Techno were, but he was hiding his face. He was hiding in an alley, scared of the thunder, but thought that graceling eyes were pretty.

“You wanna go on an adventure?” Tommy asked, jumping to his feet. He wasn’t one for puzzles, and this boy certainly was one.

“You- you want me to go with you?” Ranboo asked, incredulous.

“I mean, unless you wanna wait out the storm in this alleyway,” Tommy said, voice alight with mischief, “If that’s what you want to do, be my guest.”

“No, no,” Ranboo stammered, releasing his knees from his chest, “I’ll come with you.”

Tommy reached out his hand to Ranboo, a strange but familiar object in his vision. A thread, thin as paper, danced in front of his eyes. It reminded Tommy of the one he saw near Phil earlier.

Ranboo took his hand.

Visions flashed in Tommy’s mind.

_ A strange intimidating mask, a black smiley face on white porcelain. Terrified red and green eyes. _

_ A tall, blonde haired man, holding a sword and shield, facing down a masked man. _

_ Blank eyes, red and green, staring into black and white. Voices calling for him. He walked forward. They told him what to do and he did. _

_ Dazed, waking up somewhere he didn’t recognize, a strange book in his hands. _

_ Green and red eyes, full of power and hatred, underneath a golden crown. _

_ A dark silhouette, crumpled on the ground, a sword protruding from his chest. _

_ A familiar looking cat, a familiar looking boy, and a familiar looking man, watching a sunrise. _

Tommy winced. That happened earlier today too, first with Tubbo, then Phil. What  _ was  _ that? He glanced over to Ranboo, who seemed similarly dazed. He was staring off into space, looking at something that wasn’t there. Tommy waved his hand in front of Ranboo’s face.

The other boy didn’t move.

“Hellooooooo,” Tommy said, shaking him gently, “Earth to Ranboo.”

Ranboo’s gaze snapped to Tommy.

“Sorry,” He murmured, “That happens sometimes.”

“Happens to the best of us, big man,” Tommy said, clapping Ranboo on the shoulder, “Now, off on our adventure.”

Tommy led Ranboo through the city, weaving in and out of the alleyways he knew so well. Ranboo followed, more timidly, and he kept adjusting his mask and glasses every few feet.

“You know I won’t like… make fun of you for anything on your face, right?” Tommy said, about ready 15 minutes later, “I got these weird eyes, so…”

“I know, I know,” Ranboo stammered, “But I feel more comfortable with them on.”

“Whatever you say, big man, we’re almost to the end of our adventure anyway.”

“Where are we going?”

Tommy pointed vaguely east.

“The sea.”

“I’ve never seen the sea before,” Ranboo said, voice filled with awe.

“I haven’t seen it much either, and I live here.”

Tommy led the taller boy down a final alleyway. No offense to Ranboo, but Tommy was a little disappointed that the other boy was a good four inches taller than him. Tommy gave himself the nickname ‘big man’ because he was the tallest of the people he knew: Tubbo, the other street kids, even most of the adults were shorter than Tommy. Wilbur was the first person he knew to be taller than him, but Tommy satisfied himself by saying that Wilbur was an anomaly. 

And that made Ranboo also an anomaly; either that, or Tommy was  _ not  _ as big a man as he thought he was, which was obviously impossible because Tommy is the biggest man.

Tommy shook the strange thoughts from his head as they entered the eastern markets. He could smell the sea, a fresh, salty smell, but most of what he smelt was fish guts. 

He and Ranboo picked their way through the mud and guts of the fish market and finally onto the rocky beach he could see from Phil’s window.

The sea was even more breathtaking up close. A deep blue-gray, that faded to dark green at the edges. The surf, white bubbling foam that crashed onto the shore. And the sound,  _ the sound. _ Every time he heard that wonderful, wonderful sound, he felt himself being soothed, like the waters of the ocean were washing his soul.

Ranboo seemed to be similarly calmed. His shoulders were no longer hunched, and even if he flinched at the first crashing wave, he seemed more relaxed than Tommy had ever seen him.

They breathed with the sea; in with the waves, out with the tide.

It was wonderful.

Tommy sat on the rocky shore, and motioned for Ranboo to join him.

“It’s beautiful,” Ranboo whispered, “Thank you.”

“Mmmm,” Tommy hummed absentmindedly. His gaze was still fixed on the sea.

And neither of the boys realized that it was quite late at night and that they were quite tired. Not until they fell asleep on the beach at least. 

* * *

A rough shaking of his shoulder woke Tommy up. He sat up abruptly, forgetting the events of the night before. He opened his eyes, and he saw the sea. 

Instead of a dark-blue gray that he had grown used to, the sea was a rich green. It reminded him of Tubbo’s eye.

Tubbo.

Where was Tubbo?

Where was he?

And then a concerned face peered into his, and his memory came back.

Phil was here, staring at Tommy with a concern he only saw in Tubbo’s eyes. A concern for Tommy; not for what Tommy could do, but for Tommy.

“Tommy, are you okay?” He asked, voice full of the same concern of his face. 

“‘M fine,” Tommy mumbled, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

His eyes.

His blindfold. 

Where was his blindfold?

He couldn’t exactly waltz through the city with his eyes on display. As if on cue, a small hand appeared in the corner of his vision, holding the blindfold. 

Tubbo.

He reached out and grabbed it, adjusting it over his face once more.

“You ran off last night, we were so scared,” Phil murmured, “Tubbo especially.”

“Thought you broke your promise to me, big man,” Tubbo chimed in, “Told you not to die.”

“I kept my promise, bitch boy, don’t worry ‘bout me.”

Tommy clambered to his feet, with  only a little assistance from Phil. He rubbed his back. He may have been used to sleeping in not great places, but a rocky beach was not one of him.

“Where’s Ranboo?” He yawned.

“You mean the tall kid?” Phil asked, “He was talking to Tubbo for a bit, but when he saw me and Tech coming, he ran off.”

“Said somethin’ about needing to get home to his parents,'' Tubbo murmured, “He was nice, though. I would’ve liked to talk to him more.”

Tommy nodded.

“He was nice.”

“Hungry, Toms?”

Tommy froze. It wasn’t Tubbo who asked. It was Phil.

“Please don’t call me that.”

Phil looked apologetic.

“I’m sorry, I heard Tubbo-“

“It’s fine, it’s fine, but, uh, that’s for family only alright? Achieve that, and you can use that name.”

Phil nodded.

“Hungry, Tommy?”

“You betcha.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha so once a day was not supposed to be the upload schedule but hyperfixaiton go brrrrrr
> 
> I hope you like the chapter :>  
> And Tommy’s new friend might show up again in later chapters  
> *wink wink wonk*  
> Okay byyyeeeeeee  
> -Nerd :)


	4. Why Is Wilbur Trying To Join Me On The Roof Does He Not Understand Personal Space. What Do You Mean We're 'Bonding.'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lol, speedrun family relations and also here's Tommy's Grace!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congrats to Theskycloud for getting it mostly right!
> 
> DUDUDUDUU
> 
> -V

Tommy could barely hold himself back from trying to shovel all the food into his mouth, because, for all he knew, this would be the last nice meal he’ll have for  ~~ forever ~~ a  _ long _ while. 

He could barely hear Techno and Wilbur laughing at his jaw-dropped face, but he didn’t quite care. All he cared about was the absolute  _ cart load _ of food that was laid out in the kitchen.

That was more than he’d ever eaten in his  _ life! _

The area by the stove was covered in nice meats, like fish and steak and pork and other sorts of meat that Tommy had never seen before. Wilbur grabbed a plate and began grabbing some of the meat, before turning to the veggie platter that was laid out.

_ Who even made all this, and when did they have the time? _

_ How rich  _ **_is_ ** _ Philza Minecraft? _

Tommy hesitantly took a plate and put a small portion of fish on it. It smelled like honey and salt and fishy joy. He followed the path that Wilbur left and walked over to the vegetables, before stalling and looking over the platter with hesitant hands and wide eyes. 

_ How much of this should he take, and should he just take it and book it? _

Eventually he just grabbed a single tree-looking green and walked over to where Wilbur was seated, setting his plate down.  _ How is he supposed to eat this? _

“Hey, you alright?” Wilbur’s voice had a sort of sing-song lilt to it, and his brown and gold eyes twinkled in concern and amusement. 

Tommy didn’t meet his gaze, instead looking at the small amount of food he grabbed in comparison to Wilbur. Wilbur had a large steak and a good amount of vegetables all mashed together in a bowl.

Tommy nodded a little bit in response, looking at Tubbo as he sat down next to Tommy. Tubbo had a similar amount of food as Tommy, and his bangs had been pulled back, held on the side of his head with little bee clips. Phil had bought them for Tubbo on the way back to the house; he had offered to buy Tommy something, but Tommy refused, not wanting to be in this man’s debt anymore than he already was.

Tubbo’s green and brown eyes looked at his small plate of food, then at Wilbur’s, then Tommy’s, then his again. Tommy went to grab a fork (a possible weapon, should he need it) as the rest of the group sat down with their full plates of food. 

His hand missed. He paused, not feeling the object, then pulled his hand back and tried again. It worked better the second time, although it was slightly embarrassing to miss, due to his limited depth perception. 

Tubbo watched him, waiting until their eyes met, before raising an eyebrow and stealthily leaning a hand on where Tommy had the blindfold placed on his own head. 

An invitation to remove it. 

Tommy only stared at Tubbo blankly, before reaching up to the covering. The room stilled, and he hesitated, although Tommy could tell Phil was trying to seem uninterested in whatever Tommy was doing. 

As if it didn’t matter, being a  _ graceling. _

The knot came undone, and with it his biggest secret. He opened his other eye, blinking back a small tear from the sudden change in light.

Wilbur made a small noise, like a small cat being strangled, although, upon closer inspection, he seemed to be choking on a small piece of bone.

Techno ignored his brother and sharply inhaled when his eyes met Tommy’s. 

Dark green and warm gold met bright green and vibrant purple.

Phil had clearly expected it, but apparently that didn’t keep him from staring. Tommy’s eyes were the cheerful sort, meant to hold plenty of mirth and joy, but unfortunately his facial expression did not portray the little excitement he had left. 

All he felt now was anticipation and the urge to pick up his plate and run. But, despite the feeling, Tubbo’s hand was on his, and he was, in fact, overwhelmingly hungry. 

_“Tommy?”_ Tubbo’s voice filtered through whatever was happening. Tommy couldn’t see any different, but he was pretty damn sure that Tubbo hadn’t spoken. He hadn’t even opened his mouth to eat.

_ “Tommy do you think that Phil is going to follow through with the King’s order?” _

What order? And how was he hearing this? Tommy doubted that he was hearing Tubbo’s thoughts right now, but that was the only possible solution to this. 

_ Was that his grace? How had he not known before- _

_ “It’s the fucking King, Big T.”  _ Why was he hearing his own voice? He wasn’t talking. And he wasn’t even thinking about whatever-the-fuck the King had said. He didn’t even  _ know _ the King had said anything!

“Tommy?” Phil was looking at Tommy, concern evident on his face, and Tommy realized that he had been gripping the fork pretty tightly. 

He relaxed his hand and looked up at the group. Wilbur was looking at him with his fork still in his mouth, chewing on something. Something green, by the looks of it. Techno was just watching, but it was clear that he held some hostility towards him. That, or he was about to cut into his potato with that knife. (How does one man fit so many potatoes on his plate anyway?) 

“Tommy, are you okay?” Phil’s voice cut through whatever was left of the haze and Tommy jolted. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” Tommy responded, finally using the fork to put some fish into his mouth.

It tasted  _ heavenly. _ Tommy nearly cried. 

All mention of the newfound  _ graceling  _ was soon forgotten as the table began to chat about things. All sorts of things: politics, what life was like for Tubbo and Tommy, and the King’s wierd advisor who never took off that dumb mask with the creepy smile.

* * *

Tommy picked out a book from the shelves of his and Tubbo’s room, not that he could read much of it. It looked like some fancy high-up book, but, when Tommy opened it, he was pleasantly surprised to find that it had pictures and plenty of simple words he could read. 

He took the book downstairs with him when the rain began pattering on the windows. 

For not the first time, he thought about the boy he’d met in the rain. How was Ranboo faring? Winter must be his comfort zone, since it would be cold like the mountains he had mentioned growing up in. He knew by now that rain meant cold came in through the windows, especially during the winter. It was… an incredibly unpleasant experience to discover. Waking up cold was quite a shock when you’ve been warm for quite some time.

Tubbo was sitting in front of the fireplace, with an incredibly familiar blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Tommy began to get an acute feeling of deja vu. 

The fire was warm and roaring, and the rug was a nice place to sit. Tommy opened the book again. 

The book told tales of a series of men and women, who, in one life, tried to create a universe. 

It told tales of a tall mountain where they lived, and of the many heroes they sent out to accomplish great things. 

Many of them did, but the many who did had tragic ends.

Tommy quickly found himself getting sucked into the book, easily reading the bigger words and skipping over the ones he didn’t know. He made up other words to take their places, so the stories ended up incredibly mis-matched, with wrong words here and there.

He’d almost forgotten about the deja vu when he heard a noise other than the crackle of the fireplace. Tubbo looked over his shoulder at the oncoming person, and Tommy held his breath. 

He didn’t know why. 

_ Deja vu wasn’t supposed to last this long, was it? Just a few moments and it was over. _

“Hey Techno!” Tubbo’s voice cut through the silence and Tommy suddenly realized why this situation was so familiar. 

He’d seen it before.

That flash on the rooftop, months ago. 

He’d had a vision _. _

Of the  _ future. _

His grace was  _ seeing the future. _

It hit him suddenly that he had only seen more flashes when he’d had contact with other people for the first time. He remembered, faintly, Phil speaking of his own grace. It activated at eye contact. Could Tommy’s grace activate on first contact?

_ Was that what was seeing? Their futures? _

Tommy stood suddenly, leaving the book behind. He rushed to his room, shut the door, and began to think.

Tubbo, he had known for forever, so he probably didn’t see glimpses of Tubbo’s future like the rest of them. He’d had previous skin contact, and he had looked into Tubbo’s eyes. 

Could that be another trigger? Eye contact?

He thought about the others.

First, Phil,  ~~ dad, at this point, ~~ when he’d met the man at the festival.

* * *

_ Tubbo and himself, being led inside a building, a shelter from the rain. Phil, from in front of him, held his hand, and Wilbur held the door open.  _

That had already  **happened;** he had brought them into his own home.

_ Phil, standing in front of the castle, face awash with anger and worry. _

Tommy hadn’t seen this, but the way the sunlight fell made him assume it was during the festival. 

_ A body, lying in a pool of dark liquid. _

~~ He didn’t want to think about that one. ~~

_ A fireplace, where Phil read out from a book to someone Tommy didn’t manage to catch.  _

Tommy remembered that. He had been reading to Tubbo, actually. Stories about a group of kids, siblings, going into a magical wardrobe. 

_ Phil holding a sword to some palace guards, fighting. _

Hadn’t happened yet, he assumed. They probably would’ve heard about this by now, if it had already happened.

_ Phil holding a dagger to his neck. _

**Prime,** Tommy remembered that. That was a life changing event for him, getting caught. He always presumed getting caught would change his life, but that was not the way he expected.

* * *

Then Ranboo. He didn’t know the boy very well, he actually had only seen him once since the beach. So he didn’t know much about those events. He tried to recall them, but after only remembering faint traces, he moved on.

* * *

Tommy didn’t remember any other incidents, actually. 

Had he just… avoided contact with Wilbur and Techno? He remembered a few close calls, but nothing came to mind of a time when he would have touched the twins, since he and Tubbo had moved in months ago. 

_ Huh _ . 

He sat by the window, trying to figure out what exactly his newfound grace entailed. So, future vision, but what kind? Like, all encompassing, where he saw all the possible futures, of something like you only see the future that’s set in stone? 

~~ Tommy only had to wait another few days to figure it out, not that he knew that now. ~~

As Tommy thought, the rain slowed to a stop, and the sky cleared, becoming the bright orange and red hues he loved. Tommy took this chance to climb out of his window and sit on the roof. 

The sunset was beautiful, especially with the view he had of the ocean. Tommy realized that it was, in fact, very cold up on the rooftop, but he didn’t want to go back inside for a blanket and miss a single second of this.

The sun continued its slow descent, sky becoming darker the longer Tommy sat. 

He eventually leaned back to look at the stars, and let his mind go blank for a moment. 

Just him and the stars. 

Him and the fates. 

Him and his weird new future-vision.

Him and the new stranger on the roof with him.

Tommy’s eyes shot over to the new person, his form relaxing when he realized it was only Wilbur. Then it tensed again, remembering that he probably wasn’t supposed to be up on the roof.

“Don’t tell Phil,” Tommy said.

“Of course not. Then I’d have to explain why I knew that. But he doesn’t actually care. He used to bring me and Tech up here when we were little, to teach us the stars and shit.” Wilbur pulled out a small blanket, and held it out to Tommy.

“Of course.” Tommy avoided the outstretched hand, but took the blanket nonetheless. “Wouldn’t expect anything else from Philza Minecraft. Of course he taught his kids the stars, he’d be crazy not to.” 

Wilbur nodded and sat down next to him. Tommy gave him a wary stare, before settling down, placing the blanket in between them just in case Wilbur tried to touch him.

“So, Tommy. What are you doing up here by your lonesome?” Willbur tried. He got no response. Tommy could see Wilbur frown, before shrugging and laying down with Tommy. 

Wilbur began to hum a little bit, and Tommy relaxed involuntarily. 

As it turned out, Wilbur’s grace was like that of a siren’s, his singing was able to calm people down and...  _ influence _ them. Tommy reached up to cover his ears, but Wilbur grabbed his hand.

_ Wilbur crying, in the rain. “DAD!” He crumpled to the pavement, sobbing. “Dad…”  _

_ Wilbur laughing, holding the hand of a small child. The kid looked up at Wilbur and Tommy realized the kid was graced as well. _

_ Wilbur, singing songs to a rather large group of children. _

_ Wilbur writing on a sheet of paper, mumbling something like a poem. _

_ Wilbur in a prison, crying. _

_ Wilbur, with a blade ran through his stomach. _

“DON’T!” Tommy roared, ripping his hand away from Wilbur and pulling it towards his chest. “Don’t. Don’t touch me.”  Wilbur pulled his own hand away, no longer humming. He frowned, but Tommy scrambled back inside the house before he could respond.

* * *

“Tubbo.” Tommy was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at his hands. 

Tubbo looked up from his book. Technoblade had (not-so-willingly)  _ loaned _ his favorite book to Tubbo for the time being, and Tubbo was thoroughly enjoying it thus far. 

It was incredibly satisfying, seeing Tubbo quote Sun Tzu to Techno and seeing him get increasingly frustrated with him, since he could never prove that Tubbo was the one who had taken it.

“Tubbo, I know what my grace is.” Tommy’s voice was little more than a whisper, his eyes clouded.

“I can see the future, Tubbo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please send comments. I love to read them!
> 
> -V
> 
> Tiny note from Nerd:  
> If you can tell me why I chose those colors for Tommy’s eyes, you get a cookie. It’s pretty easy to figure out but nevertheless. Send a comment if you figure it out :>  
> -Nerd


	5. Have I Been Adopted By A Group Of Wackos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy’s grace reveal fully woOOO  
> Speedrunning family bonding but also angst :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a timeline mix up so V said to speedrun family bonding so I speedran family bonding lets gooooo  
> -N

Tubbo was silent, and Tommy didn’t know how to feel about it.

“You… what?”

Tommy exhaled with relief. Tubbo seemed more confused than upset. He didn’t know  _ why _ he thought Tubbo would be upset, but nevertheless.

“Okay, so technically I don’t really know how it works, but I’m pretty sure that I can see the future with my grace.”

Tubbo cocked his head to one side.

“You always said it was like speed reading or something.”

“Ah, yeah,” Tommy chuckled, “You just always had such a cool grace, and I just didn’t want to admit I didn’t know mine.”

Tubbo smiled.

“Well, I’m glad you figured it out, Toms. How’d you do it?”

Tommy moved closer to Tubbo and began to whisper conspiratorially. He didn’t know if Wilbur could hear him from his place on the roof, but something told Tommy that he should keep this knowledge limited to a select few. 

Who knows, maybe Wilbur would figure it out later.  ~~ Maybe he already had. ~~

“Okay, so you know how you were sitting in the living room a couple minutes ago and Techno came over?”

Tubbo nodded.

“Do you also remember the day we met Phil? How I said that I would handle it and I kinda blanked for a minute or two while climbing?”

Tubbo thought for a moment or two, then nodded again.

“Okay so, imagine this: I say I can handle it, then I suddenly see the living room. I don’t recognize it, but I recognize you. You’re sitting in the chair like you were before, and Techno walks over. I saw that.  _ Months before it happened.” _

Tubbo looked slightly confused, but he seemed to mostly understand.

“So you got a weird sense of deja vu, then realized your grace is seeing the future?”

Tommy debated telling Tubbo about the visions from Phil and Ranboo and Wilbur. 

It was  _ Tubbo.  _ He  _ trusted _ Tubbo. 

But it was also his  _ grace.  _ And something told him he shouldn’t trust  _ anyone  _ with all the details.

Something told him that whoever found out his grace would try to use it. 

Like Tubbo told him his parents did when he first figured out his grace. 

Like Phil had said others in his business tried to use him.

And if his grace really  _ was  _ telling the future, then he should probably listen to his instincts.

“I remembered little times something like that happened before, and decided that seeing the future was the most likely solution,” Tommy said, deciding to give Tubbo  _ most  _ of the truth.

“Do you think you could do it now?” Tubbo asked, eyes alight with intrigue.

“Uh, I don’t know if that’d be the best idea, big T,” Tommy chuckled.

Tubbo nodded sagely, like he’d known that all along.

“Do you know how to activate it?”

“Uh, I think it’s first contact, and other than that, probably randomly,” Tommy trailed off, “Why do you ask?”

“It’s just a  _ really _ powerful grace and you should know how to use it, right?” Tubbo said. Tommy began to get a little nervous.

But Tubbo’s eyebrows wrinkled, and he looked down to his book again.

“Or maybe Techno’s book is really getting to me.”

Tommy chuckled.

“Don’t read too many of his books or you’ll become too much like him, and that look doesn’t suit you.”

“I dunno,” Tubbo laughed, “Tubbo the war general doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Stick to your animals, bitch boy,” Tommy said, “And Tommy the war general sounds better.”

The door opened behind them.

“Techno the war general sounds best,” the man himself proclaimed, familiar pink hair pulled back in a braid.

Tubbo’s eyes went wide and his hands immediately went to cover the book. Techno’s green and gold eyes caught the movement, and he apparently recognized the cover.

“YOU DID STEAL IT!” He shrieked, jumping into the room, “GIVE IT BACK!”

Tubbo grabbed the book and broke for the door, and Tommy covered his escape by leaping toward Techno.

Techno evaded him easily, much to Tommy’s annoyance, but Tubbo had already made it out of the room. Techno ran out after him, and Tommy followed, trying to distract Techno in whatever way he knew how. That basically boiled down to making bad jokes on the offhand chance Techno would laugh at one.

It didn’t really work.

_ Oh well. _

Tommy followed Techno and Tubbo into the living room, where Tubbo had already positioned himself behind the big chair. The book was clutched in his hands and there was an energetic playfulness in his eyes.

“Give it back,” Techno growled, looking for a way to get to Tubbo. Whenever he moved around the chair, Tubbo moved the other way, keeping it firmly between them. Tommy moved to stand next to the wall, content with watching and occasionally shouting encouraging comments to Tubbo.

“Well, you know, ‘he will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared,’” Tubbo taunted, “I’ve been reading your books, you know. I’m better at this than you’d think.”

“That doesn’t even make sense in this context,” Techno huffed, “Neither of us are prepared.”

“Oh yeah? Enderchest, attack!”

Enderchest, lounging by the fire, looked up at Tubbo. She looked at Techno, then at Tommy, then went back to her napping. Tommy laughed, but Tubbo looked disappointed.

“That was your plan? To get the cat to attack me?” Techno asked, he and Tubbo circling the chair once more.

“Oh, well, Mr.Techno-the-war-general, what’s your plan?”

Techno lunged forward, grabbing for the book. Tubbo yelped, leaning out of the way just in time. He took off down the hall and Techno ran after him, startling Wilbur, who was coming the other way. Wilbur met Tommy’s gaze, but Tommy quickly looked away after seeing the concern in his eyes.

Wilbur came and stood next to Tommy, leaning up against the wall and not touching Tommy. Tommy could hear a cacophony down the hall, and he imagined Tubbo badly quoting ‘The Art of War,’ and Techno yelling at him for it.

“Are you okay, Tommy?” Wilbur asked, voice quiet but musical, as Wilbur’s voice often was.

Tommy took a deep breath and met Wilbur’s eyes again.

Brown and gold met bright green and purple.

“I’m fine, Wil. Why?”

Wilbur narrowed his eyes.

“Do you not remember what happened like fifteen minutes ago? I took your hand, sorry about that, really, but then you freaked out and ran off? You got in the window so quick, I thought you fell off the roof.”

Tommy sighed.

“I’m fine, Wil. I just had realized right before that that I had- we had- you and Techno have never really touched me before. It was just sudden, that’s all.”

Something small inside him told him to tell Wilbur the truth about his grace, but a much louder voice told him to keep it a secret.

“Would you like to?” Wilbur asked, “Do you want a hug?”

Tommy stiffened. As far as he knew, his grace only activated on first contact, so a hug  _ now _ shouldn’t hurt. 

But he also didn’t know anything about his grace. He literally only figured it out like twenty minutes ago.

But Wilbur looked so sorry. He looked warm and loving. 

~~ He looked like Phil. ~~

So Tommy took a deep breath, and he nodded.

He kept his gaze fixed firmly  _ anywhere else  _ as he felt Wilbur’s long arms wrap around him. It was warm and comfortable, like Tommy had predicted, but there was also something else there.

~~ Wilbur finally felt like family. ~~

Tommy felt something warm and wet on his cheeks.

“I love you, Toms,” he heard Wilbur hum.

“I love you, too,” He murmured into Wilbur’s shoulder. He didn’t know if Wilbur heard him, but he had said it, and it was final. 

When they pulled away, Tommy was glad Wilbur didn’t mention him wiping away the liquid on his face.

* * *

Tommy couldn’t sleep. 

It had been a few days since he had gotten those visions from Wilbur, and they still weighed heavily on his mind.

_ When would they happen? _

_ Would they actually happen? _

_ Is there anything he could do about it? _

He turned in his bed to face the window again. The stars sparkled in the dark sky, casting soft, cool light on the sea below. He watched the sea for a good ten minutes, trying to fall asleep.

It didn’t work.

Tommy huffed in annoyance and sat up, deciding to try and get a snack. This might soothe his anxious body, but Tommy doubted it would soothe his mind. 

He stood and quietly snuck out of the bedroom, trying not to wake Tubbo. He was curled up in his bed, asleep, and Enderchest was splayed out next to him. He met the cat’s gaze and left the room.

Tommy tiptoed down the hallway and into the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.

“Can’t sleep?” A voice called from the chair by the fire.

Tommy froze. He didn’t expect anyone else to be awake, let alone Techno. 

As he moved toward the fire, he finally saw Techno, sitting in the chair, reading a book. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t recall a time he saw Techno asleep. Did Techno even have a bed?

“Uh, no, not really,” Tommy murmured, stepping into the firelight, “Why are you awake?”

“Not tired,” Techno said, flipping a page in his book, “And I’m waiting for someone.”

“Waiting for wh-“

The front door creaked behind Tommy, and his head instinctually whipped toward it. He didn’t know what he expected, but the person who came through the door was not it.

“Wilbur?”

“Oh,  _ hi _ , Toms. Techno.”

“What were you doing out this late?” Tommy asked.

“He was visiting his fish girlfriend,” Techno said, finally turning away from his book. There was a humor sparkling in his eyes that Tommy had not seen before. Wilbur tried to deny it, but nothing came out.

“You have a fish girlfriend?” Tommy laughed, confused.

“No!” Wilbur sputtered, at the same time Techno said: “Yes.”

“He always sneaks out to the ocean to meet her, he hasn’t brought her home or even described what she looks like, and he says her name is Sally. I’ve never heard of a Sally, have you?”

Tommy chuckled.

“Sounds like you have a fish girlfriend, Wil.”

“I don’t have a fish girlfriend.”

“A seagull girlfriend then?” Tommy offered.

“No! She is fully and completely human.”

“Sus.” Techno muttered.

“Sus,” Tommy responded, nodding.

“I’m not sus!” Wilbur shouted.

“Then explain yourself and your fish girlfriend, Wil-bur,” Tommy chided.

“I visit her at night by the ocean because her father would go ballistic if he knew.”

“Does she know you’re graced?”

Wilbur hesitated just a second too long.

“Yes.”

“Liar,” Techno said from his place in the chair, gold and green eyes sparkling.

“Okay, no, she doesn’t, but again, her father would kill me  _ and _ her if he knew that. She has a son who’s graced and that’s bad enough.”

“A son?”

Wilbur paused.

“ _ My  _ son.”

Tommy’s eyebrows raised.

“You have a kid?”

Wilbur nodded, not meeting Tommy or Techno’s gazes.

“Do we ever get to meet him? He’s our nephew,” Techno said, “And I’m  _ sure  _ Phil would love to hear about this.”

Wilbur’s face was awash with panic.

“Please don’t tell him, you can-“

“Don’t tell me what?”

Phil was standing in the hallway, hands on his hips.

“Heyyyyyyy, dad,” Wilbur said, panic in his eyes. He leaned onto the wall, trying to seem calm, but missed and just stood back up, a guilty smile flashing across his face.

“Wilbur has a fish girlfriend,” Tommy remarked.

“You mean Sally?” Phil responded, “I know.”

“Y-you what?” Wilbur stammered. His smile fell.

“You’re not as slick as you think you are, Wil,” Phil said, smiling, “I know about Sally  _ and  _ Fundy.”

“Fundy?” Techno asked, “Is that your kid, Wil?”

Wilbur nodded.

“Y-you’re not mad?” Wilbur asked, seemingly close to tears.

Phil smiled and walked over to Wil, wrapping his arms around his son.

“I’m not mad at you, Wil,” Phil said, “I understand.”

Wilbur started crying.

“She’s gonna take him away, dad. Sally’s gonna leave and she’s gonna take my son with her. I don’t want her to take him.”

Wilbur cried into Phil’s shoulder, and the hairs rose on the back of Tommy’s neck.

“Hey, Wil?” He asked, “Does the kid have one brown eye and one black eye?”

Wilbur looked up, confused.

“Uh, yeah, why?” His voice was more of a sad ballad than a cheerful tune now.

Then Fundy  _ was  _ the kid Tommy remembered from his Wilbur vision. And if his grace really  _ was  _ seeing the future, then maybe Wil would get to see his kid again.

Tommy debated on saying anything, but decided that his brother needed the support.

“I think it’ll be okay, Wil. Trust me.”

“How do you know?” Wilbur asked, looking Tommy up and down, “And how’d you guess his eye colors?”

Tommy froze. Should he tell them? Should he not?

“Uhh, lucky guess, I suppose,” Tommy said, awkwardly shuffling back toward the hall, “and a gut feeling. Things have a way of working themselves out.”

Wilbur smiled sadly at Tommy, then looked back to Phil. 

“You’re sure you’re not mad?”

“Positive.”

Techno stood, walking down the hall again, and Wilbur slumped down in the chair that he previously occupied. 

As Techno walked down the hall to his room, his shoulder just barely clipped Tommy’s. Tommy went to move away, but then his vision went dark.

_ Techno standing, covered in blood, in a ring of unconscious bodies, green and gold eyes alight. _

_ The sound of a sword-fight, and a strange looking mask lying on the ground. _

_ Techno, sitting in a small armchair Tommy didn’t recognize, reading a book Tommy did recognize. _

_ Techno, his familiar pink ponytail bouncing through a large field, a sack slung over his shoulder.  _

_ Techno standing, sword drawn, in front of a group of young gracelings. Protecting them from something.  _ ~~_ Tommy didn’t see what.  _ ~~

_ Techno bouncing a familiar looking child with familiar looking eyes on his knee, laughing. _

_ Another sword fight, but this time, Tommy saw Techno on the ground, a gash in his stomach bleeding profusely. _

_ A small, ringing knock on the door, and Phil walking over to open the door. _

A sharp, clear sound rang through Tommy’s mind, and he blinked away the visions. Someone was knocking at the door.

Phil walked over to open it, and Tommy could see his face change as he saw who was on the other side. 

Whoever it was, Phil didn’t want them here. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D yay chapter  
> Family bonding but also angst  
> Be prepared next chapter is angsty >:]  
> Leave a comment if you like it :D  
> Bye  
> -Nerd


	6. Phil's Strange Intervention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, someone's at the door, what will Phil do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLOT PLOT PLOT PLOT PLOT PLOT PLTO PLOT PLOT PLOT-
> 
> (also I'm sorry it's short I have been very stuck on this chapter but here!)
> 
> -V

“Ah, Mr. Philza Minecraft residence, I presume?” 

An adult man’s voice came from the door, and Tommy questioned what was going on, not for the first time. 

“Mind if we come in?”

_ We? _

Phil hesitated, looking back at his sons and Tommy.

“O-of course, just one moment please.” 

He went to close the door but a foot stopped him. Tommy froze. 

The shoe was armoured, and even from here, Tommy could see the royal emblem on the side. 

Soldiers. Tommy’s breathing hitched and he felt his vision begin to black out.

_ “Ah, I’m afraid this is an urgent matter, Mr. Minecraft.” _

_ The door swung open and the soldiers caught sight of Tommy, Techno, and Wilbur, eyes all uncovered. Their visors were down, but Tommy could see that one was at least a good half-foot taller than the other and both were heavily muscled.  _

_ “More gracelings?” Said the shorter one, the one Tommy guessed was speaking earlier. “Mr. Minecraft, it was presumed you only had two sons, not three. I’m going to have to take you in. You were summoned, you and your sons, anyway. We were supposed to give you some time to pack your things, but clearly, if you can harbour an extra, you don’t need that extra  _ **_grace_ ** _ time. You know very well that it is, in fact, illegal to harbour gracelings that are not your own blood, and we both can clearly tell that that one-“ he pointed to Tommy- “is not, in fact, your flesh or blood.” _

_ They grabbed Phil and began to drag him away. Phil fought, but he quickly got too far away for Tommy to see- _

Tommy grabbed Techno and Wilbur and hightailed it up the stairs. He didn’t know where he got the sudden strength to do it, but he was running on adrenaline at the moment. All he knew was that if he didn’t do this  **now** , Phil would be taken away and he didn’t know where to.

“Wha-“

“Haah?”

_ “Shhhhhhhhhh!” _

Tommy continued to pull them up the stairs, not answering any of their unasked questions. 

He was halfway up the stairs when he heard the words. 

“Ah, I’m afraid this is an urgent matter, Mr. Minecraft.” Tommy yanked Techno and Wilbur up the stairs one final time, and they were out of sight when the door swung open. The three of them sat by the edge of the stairs, curious for what the guards had to say.

“Tommy, what-?” Wilbur whispered. 

Tommy met his eyes, deep brown and shining gold to bright green and vibrant purple, with a glare that shut Wilbur up instantly.

“Royal. Soldiers.” Tommy hissed out, before tuning back into the conversation downstairs. All he heard was muffled speech, since he was trying to listen through a wall.

Wilbur’s eyes widened and he placed his head on the wall, trying to listen in as well. 

Techno pulled his hair away from his ear and placed it against the wall. He frowned, before getting up and heading to the bathroom. 

He came back with four glass cups and Tubbo.

“Here,” Techno said, handing the cups out. Tommy put one between his ear and the wall, and he could hear the conversation much clearer. 

“-To follow the King’s order,” one of the soldiers was saying. It sounded like the one in his vision, so most likely the shorter one. “We have let you stay here out of a, ah, well, for lack of a better term,  _ grace  _ period. However, if you do not present yourself at the castle in a week’s time, we will have no choice but to come back with greater force and pressure you to come with us anyway. You  _ and _ your family, Mr. Minecraft.”

“Of course,” Philza said hesitantly. “Wouldn’t want to upset King George, now.”

“It’s not King George you would have fear of upsetting, it’s his advisor, Dream. He’s the one who suggested to his majesty of keeping all the gracelings in the castle grounds,” said the other one.

The whole assembly stilled.

Tommy felt the air become stifling and he found it a little difficult to breathe through the silence.

“Skep, can I speak to you a minute?” The smaller soldier said, and Tommy heard some clanking before the door opened, then closed again.

“Kids?” Phil asked. Tommy took the moment to peek around the corner to look down at Phil. 

“Up here da- Phil.” Tommy cut himself off, blushing bright red.

“Are all of you up there?” Phil looked up, face serious and not acknowledging the near slip-up. Tommy nodded. “Alright, I’m not gonna ask how you knew, but you guys have to get out of here.”

“Dad, what?” Wilbur whisper-yelled. “What do you mean we have to get out? What do they want?”

“They want  _ us, _ Wil. The king, or really  _ Dream _ , wants all the gracelings under his control at the castle. That’s what I think, anyway.”

“But no one will listen, right?” Techno sighed loudly, and Tubbo shushed him quickly. 

“Alright, alright.” He huffed.

“Exactly.” Phil said and Tommy saw the door open again and whipped his head back around the corner and put his finger to his lips.

The rest of the gang stared at him with wide eyes. 

“Well, Mr. Minecraft, we’ll have to be going now, but keep in mind you have only one week. Have a good night.” The door shut, and everyone let out an exhale of relief.

“Phil what are we gonna do?” Tommy asked him. 

Phil thought for a moment before looking up at the teens and young adults gathered on the staircase. 

“Well, we can’t defy the king, even if it’s Dream pulling the strings, but I can’t in my right mind let my sons, and my grandson, march off to the castle unprepared.”

“Yeah, but what are we going to do, dad?” Tubbo asked in a stronger voice than normal. 

The ‘D’ word! 

Phil looked up at him, them, and in a voice so quiet Tommy could barely hear, he said, “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

Tommy turned around to face Techno, surprised that he had spoken.

“You always have a plan, Dad, or some idea of what to do. What’s different this time?”

Techno’s voice was quiet, but his eyes were boring into Phil. Phil sighed and turned away from the staircase, facing the door once more.

“We’re out of options, Tech.”

“No we’re not. We can always run or fight or-“

“Technoblade. You may be able to fight, you may be able to run. But look at your brothers. Look at me.”

Techno stiffened at the mention of his full name. Tommy had never heard Phil call him that before; it only came out of teasing from Wilbur.

“I don’t  _ trust _ it, Techno. Any of it.”

“Dad-“ 

It was Wilbur who spoke that time, stepping forward, off the stairs and into the room.

“Dream was  _ lying  _ when he spoke about protecting the gracelings, the guard was  _ lying  _ when he spoke of the week. They’re going to try and get us sooner, so we can’t run off.”

Phil turned back to the boys once more, and there was something in his eyes that Tommy had never seen before.

_ Fear. _

“But I don’t think there’s anything we can do about it! I can see what’s wrong but I can do anything about it! Why can’t I- I just want to protect you, and these eyes-“

He pointed to his own gold and black eyes, alight with panic.

“They only curse us.”

**??? POV**

The door closed with a quiet click, and the shorter soldier immediately turned to the taller one, annoyance evident in his posture.

“What was that?” He said, turning to the other man.

“What?” The other soldier tilted his head like he didn’t know what was going on.

“We are under  _ strict orders _ to not mention him!”

“We are? I wasn’t paying attention.”

“I’m fully aware of that, Skeppy. You were staring at the archivist the whole fucking time. But you should know that anyway! It’s in every order he gives us!” 

He threw his hands up in the air before pulling up his visor to rub his eyes. He closed the visor before Skeppy could see his face, but even in the darkness of the street, he felt drawn to the unlit lamps.

“He?”

“Dream, dumbass.”

“Oh. Were they not supposed to know?”

“No, of course not. Honestly, if you can’t keep your mouth shut, it’s a miracle that Dream even chose you for the pick up crew. You better get your act together before we come back in three days.”

“Three days?” Skeppy asked, “I thought we said a week!” 

“We did, but three days is how much time they need to pack if they’re going to try and run. We-” he stuck his hand out and poked Skeppy in the chest- “are going to be there to stop them.”

“We are?”

He sighed.  _ “Yes.” _

“Oh.”

He opened the door and bid their farewells to Mr. Minecraft, before he and Skeppy began to walk back to the castle.

“...Please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks the archivist is cute, Pandas.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’re not the  _ only _ one, Skep. And don’t call me that.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHA I CAN'T WRITE ANGST >:)
> 
> Please leave Comments! I love reading them!
> 
> -V


	7. We're Getting Arrested, But It's Not Because I Stole From Mrs. Drypp Last Week, Right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone’s anxious.  
> Obligatory Enderchest reference.  
> Skeppy and Sapnap show up.  
> Grace reveals :D  
> Also first Dream interaction pog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is not in the same style as everything else but this is how I write angst so deal with it  
> Mmmmm angst   
> ALSO PLOT STUFF STARTING POG  
> -Nerd

The next few days seemed to crawl by. The whole house was on edge, counting down the seconds until more guards showed up at their door. Phil thought they were going to come earlier, but none of them knew when they would come.

Everyone was anxious, and Tommy could see it.

Phil wandered throughout the house, eyes heavy. Tommy didn’t think Phil had slept since that day.

Techno was either pacing up and down the hall, or he was locked in his room. 

Wilbur would try to sing them all lullabies to calm them, but, even with his grace, it never seemed to work.

Tubbo was sucked into his books, willingly ignoring the world around him. Tommy wondered if he had memorized  _ The Art of War  _ by this time, since he had read it more than fifteen times.

Hell, even Enderchest looked anxious. Her fur was ruffled in all the wrong places, and she wasn’t more than three feet from either Tubbo or Techno at any given time. Tommy wondered if Tubbo had told her what was going to happen.

And Tommy?

It had been three days since the soldiers came to their doorstep. Tommy couldn’t get the moment out of his head.

Specifically the name  _ Dream. _

Tommy didn’t even know the man; he barely knew who he was.

An advisor to the king who wore a creepy mask, and that was it.

But  _ apparently _ he wanted all the gracelings.

That wasn’t what made Tommy nervous.

It was the fact that whenever the name  _ Dream  _ popped into his head, all his internal alarm bells went off. 

The ones that always went off when he was in danger.  ~~ Or, more often, when his family was in danger. ~~

But Dream wasn’t here.

And then Tommy considered himself. More specifically, his grace.

Those same bells had rung when he wanted to tell Tubbo his grace.

Was that part of his grace?

Not just visions, but instincts?

Tommy blinked.

_ A strange man sitting on the throne, strange eyes staring at Tommy. _

_ The man smiled. _

Tommy froze.

A vision?

He glanced around him. He was sitting on the roof again, gazing up at the stars and out at the sea. There was no one else here.

Tommy hadn’t considered that his grace could activate intentionally. He hadn’t thought about his grace since… really since Wilbur. Sure, it crossed his mind from time to time, but he hadn’t thought about  _ using  _ it.  ~~ It scared him. ~~

And then he drew a connection.

If he could activate his grace intentionally, he could see the future whenever he liked. 

And if he could see the future, he could prepare for it.

He could save his family.

He closed his eyes and thought as hard as he could about his grace, and his family, and the future.

He opened them again to see… the ocean and the sky.

Tommy huffed and fell back onto the roof, staring up into the sky. The stars sparkled overhead, oblivious to the fate of the mortals dancing, destroying, and dying beneath them. 

They were blind to the fate of the earth.

Tommy watched them for a minute, thinking through what to do.

He needed advice. From someone who knows how graces work.

Tubbo’s grace was different; it didn’t really  _ activate. _

Wilbur’s was the same.

Tommy didn’t exactly  _ know  _ Techno’s grace. It had never come up,  ~~ and he was too afraid to ask. ~~

That left Phil.

It made sense, his grace was kinda similar to Tommy’s. They both activated at some kind of trigger, eye contact in Phil’s case, and Tommy assumed Phil could activate his on command.

And there were the alarm bells again, ringing at the thought of telling another person his grace. 

But maybe he didn’t have to  _ tell _ Phil. Maybe he could just ask Phil about his grace. No mention of his own. 

Tommy slid off the roof and clambered into his bedroom, careful not to disturb Tubbo. The other boy was curled up in his bed, holding a candle to a book of which the title Tommy couldn’t read. Enderchest was sitting in his lap, purring contentedly.

Tommy slipped out of the bedroom and into the empty hall. He walked into the main living room and found Phil, sitting in the chair by the fire. 

“Hey, Phil.”

Phil looked up, his tired eyes meeting Tommy’s.

Black and gold met green and purple.

“Hi, Toms.”

Tommy walked over and sat on the floor next to the chair, gazing into the fire. It was warm, but it seemed dimmer, as if even the house was anxious.

“I had a question.”

Phil simply hummed in response.

“How does your grace work?”

Phil’s eyebrows raised. 

“Why do you ask?”

“Just curious,” Tommy responded quickly, knowing that Phil was now suspicious of him.

“Okay,” Phil said, adjusting his position to sit forward, “You know what it is, right?”

Tommy just shrugged.

“I’ll take that as a no. Whenever I make eye contact with someone, I can judge whether they are trustworthy or not.”

“Is it only on eye contact, or can you trigger it?”

Phil looked quizzically at Tommy, but if he was confused, he didn’t say anything.

“I can trigger it if I try. But at that point it acts more from phrase to phrase, rather than just the person. Kinda like detecting lies, but not as specific.”

Tommy tilted his head to one side, eyes still fixed on the fire.

“How do you try and trigger it?”

“Well, it’s just instinct I suppose,” Phil said, sitting back in his chair once more, “But I focus on what I want to do and it just… happens. Eye contact helps, though.”

Tommy was about to ask another question when he heard  _ it _ .

A sharp knock on the door.

Tommy’s breath stopped. 

The house seemed to still.

Phil sighed, stood and walked over to the door. He opened it and faced whoever was outside.

The walk through the city was brisk and refreshing, or Tommy  _ would  _ have thought so, if there weren’t sharp eyes on his back and a castle looming before him.

The soldiers had come to the house as Phil thought they would, and insisted that the family come to the castle. There were more of them that time, but the two from earlier were still there, laughing like old friends.

Phil’s eyes were sharp, the anxiety renewed in his face. He had a small bag with some of his possessions from the house, but other than that, he was carrying nothing.  ~~ Nothing except the fate of his family, that is. ~~

Tommy noted that an  _ odd  _ amount of soldiers were focused on Techno, and he wondered if they knew something he didn’t. Techno looked the least anxious out of all of them; there was a strong determination in his eyes, and also something that Tommy had only seen a few times before. Anger.

Wilbur, surprisingly, seemed calm. He was humming to himself, a tune Tommy didn’t recognize. His eyes were closed, but his steps were sure, and he never faltered.

Tubbo was clutching Tommy’s hand like a lifeline. He was carrying one of Techno’s books. Tommy presumed it was  _ The Art of War _ , but maybe Tubbo had decided to branch out this time.

Enderchest was nowhere to be seen. She ran off when the guards came, and no amount of coaxing from Tubbo could get her to come back. Tommy didn’t exactly know  _ why  _ Tubbo wanted Enderchest to come out; it wasn’t like they could take the cat to the castle with them.

Tommy was… well, Tommy was apprehensive. He had all right to be. Phil said something was wrong, and Tommy himself could tell. 

The castle loomed large and dark before them, warm lanterns glowing in some of the windows. It was, honestly, a very pretty building. Arches and windows decorated most of the walls, and the dark marble reflected the light from the stars and the lanterns.

Tommy didn’t really care for that. All he knew was that the castle would be like a prison.

And surrounding him were the guards.

The two that came the first time seemed to hold some position of power, the smaller one especially. The other soldiers obeyed his commands without hesitation, and he walked in the front. He seemed to be comfortable with the taller soldier Tommy recognized, but less so with the others. It made Tommy curious.

But now was not the time for curiosity, as the castle gate was only a few steps away.

The taller soldier called something indistinct to a guard up in a tower above the gate, and the gate creaked open. 

Tommy took a shuddering breath and stepped through, onto the castle grounds. They all shuffled inside, and the gate was closed behind them with a mighty  _ SLAM.  _

“Alright, you’re dismissed,” The shorter guard said, shooing the group of guards away. They all saluted him and dispersed into small groups, heading farther into the castle grounds. 

The shorter guard sighed and took off his helmet.

Tommy didn’t know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this.

The guard had tan skin and dark hair held out of his face with a bandana. 

But that wasn’t what surprised Tommy.

It was his eyes.

One was a warm orange, like the color of fire, and the other was a bright gold.

The guard met Tommy’s gaze and smirked.

Orange and gold met green and purple. 

“Didn’t think a graceling would be the captain of the royal guard?” He asked, turning away again. The other guard, who had also taken off his helmet, laughed.

“Don’t be mean to them, Pandas,” he chided, bright blue eyes meeting Tommy’s. 

“I  _ told  _ you, don’t call me that,” the shorter guard huffed, “My name is Sapnap.”

“I know, I know. But Pandas is more fun to say and you can’t do anything about it.”

“I could fire you,” Sapnap said, raising an eyebrow, “And you won’t get to see the archivist anymore.”

“As if,” The other guard scoffed, “You love me too much to get rid of me.”

Sapnap rolled his eyes, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he turned to the group.

“C’mon, the king himself wants to meet the family of the great  _ Philza Minecraft.” _

Phil stiffened at his name, but he didn’t say anything. Sapnap and the other guard, Tommy learned his name was Skeppy, led them into the castle.

It was crawling with guards, more than Tommy might have expected for the castle. Sure, it was bound to be protected, but Tommy wondered if a guard at every door was a little  _ much.  _ Maybe it was for all the gracelings in the castle?

Tommy didn’t have much time to think, because within a minute from the gate, they arrived at the throne room. Skeppy and Sapnap ushered them inside, bowed at the figure in the throne, then left.

Tommy and his family stood still near the door.

“You may approach,” the figure Tommy assumed to be the king said.

And so they did. 

He was a young man, with thick-rimmed glasses, dark hair and eyes, and blue robes. He smiled at them.

“Philza Minecraft and family,” he said, “Welcome.”

“Your highness,” Phil responded, bowing. Tubbo, Wilbur, and Techno did the same, but Tommy’s eyes were fixed on a figure in the corner.

A figure wearing a smiley face mask.

_ Dream _ .

Their gazes met, or at least Tommy assumed they did, for he couldn’t see the man’s eyes. 

His posture shifted, just slightly, and his hand came to rest on the pommel of a sword at his belt. His head tilted down slightly, and he seemed to be examining Tommy.

Tommy’s warning bells went off again, but there wasn’t much he could do about it now.

He turned his gaze back to the king, who seemed a little confused as to why Tommy didn’t bow. 

“You may stand,” he said, eyes still fixed on Tommy, “Welcome to the palace.”

“Thank you,” Phil said, shooting Tommy a glare. Tommy rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like the king could kill him for not bowing or anything.

“I’m glad you are here, Mr. Minecraft. The graceling battalion just would not be complete without you.”

“Battalion?” It was Techno who spoke that time, confusion evident on his face.

“Yes, battalion,” The king responded, “The palace will protect the gracelings, and the gracelings will protect the kingdom. You can thank Dream, it was his idea.”

The masked man stepped forward and surveyed the people before him.

“Thank you, your highness,” he said. His voice was calm and solid, and it didn’t waver in the slightest.

“Now, just so Dream knows how to organize you, tell me your graces. I never quite learned what the grace of the great  _ Philza Minecraft  _ is, and I’m terribly curious.”

Phil took a step forward.

“I can judge people’s trustworthiness, your highness,” he said, “and if I try, I can determine lies from truth.”

The king's eyes lit up.

“Fascinating.”

Then Techno.

“Fighting grace, your highness.”

“Do you think you could best my guards?”

“Even the greatest of them, your highness.”

Tommy heard a small cough from Dream. 

Wilbur stepped forward next.

“I can sing, and if I want, people will do what I say when I sing.”

Tubbo stepped forward.

“Uh, I can talk to animals.”

The king nodded, then his eyes landed on Tommy. Their gazes met.

Tommy shook his head.

“You are graced, your eyes reveal you,” the king said, “Do you not know what it is?”

Tommy shook his head again.

“Very well. I’m sure Dream will find a place for you regardless.”

The masked man nodded.

“I’m sure I will.”

He turned to Phil.

“Come along, I’ll show you who’s here already.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst go brrrr >:]  
> Also if you have any questions about the fic, the lore, or anything really, please leave a comment because we love responding to comments   
> Thanks for reading   
> Okay byeeeee  
> -N


	8. Why Are There So Many People Here. Thank Goodness There Isn't A Pandemic.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where is Dream taking them? 
> 
> Hmmm...... I wonder.....
> 
> Introducing a second POV at the bottom!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUNDY FUNDY FUNDY FUNDY FUNDY-
> 
> BIG BROTHER RANBOO BIG BROTHER RANBOO BIG BROTHER RANBOO-
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> -V

Dream lead the group of five into a large colosseum-like room. Tommy gaped at the absolute space in the one room, even if he logically knew that this  _ was _ the royal palace. 

_ “Holy shit!”  _ He said. “This place is fucking huge!”

It was.

Throughout the room there were arches covered in gold lining, creating little patterns on the columns. The carvings on each one made them look like trees, with rough bark on the columns and golden leaves from the tall arches. 

The ceiling was white glass, and, at every other column and arch, it pointed. In the middle of each arch a chandelier hung, not a very grand one, but they all gave off enough light so the whole room could be lit up when there was no sun. At least, that’s what Tommy would do if he built it. 

Not that he knew how to build, but still.

Tommy’s head lowered to find Dream staring at him. He shivered, before looking around to see what was at eye level. 

There were groups of people loitering around the room, and most of them were talking to themselves, while others were mulling about, walking around.

They were all on the other side of the room though, and the ones closest to them were just watching quietly, barely moving. Tommy watched them warily as their group passed by and Dream led them to the other side of the room.

Tommy’s eyes landed on each face fleetingly, trying to look at how many people were already here, and he realized they were all  _ graced. _

_ All of them. _

His eyes widened in wonder of so many gracelings in one place, and he tried to see all the different colors in the room.

Blue and grey.

Yellow and red.

Black and green.

Red and blue.

Forest green and purple.

Yellow-orange and pink.

Green and red.

Wait, why did the green-and-red-eyed graceling look familiar?

Tommy’s eyes met Ranboo’s and he grinned. He elbowed Tubbo and pointed at Ranboo.

“Ranboo! You’re here!” Tubbo called out. Ranboo smiled sheepishly. 

“Hey Tubbo,” he said back, quietly. Tommy took that as an invitation to walk over, so he grabbed Tubbo and dragged him over to his sea-shore friend.

“I didn’t know you were graced, big man. Why didn’t you tell me?” Tommy asked, punching Ranboo lightly on the arm.

“Ow!” Ranboo rubbed the spot. “Well, I was nervous, okay? I had just met you! And, uh, you know, not safe to show our eyes and all that.”

“Whatever, Ranboob. Anyway, what’s your grace? What do you think they’re going to make us do here? I hope they don’t give us pussy jobs because I’m a big man!” Tommy’s voice was at its normal volume, and that seemed to encourage the other gracelings around them to begin their conversations again. 

Tommy looked back at his family to find: Dream gone, Phil and Techno looking around, and Wilbur...

Hugging a small child. So Fundy was here, then? Or did Wilbur just find a group of children and pick one up?

No, that was definitely Fundy. Wilbur carried his son over to Phil and Techno, but Fundy was trying to wriggle his way out of his dad’s grasp.

“Well, uh, my grace isn’t that cool, I dunno, and I’d probably be fine with whatever job they gave me, as long as they don’t work me to death! And please don’t call me that.” Ranboo chuckled, fiddling with his fingers nervously.

“Hmm, I guess that’s a good enough answer, bitch boy.” Tommy huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “But you know what it is, right?” 

“Oh, yeah! I do, I just— I don’t like to use it, I guess? And I try not to think about it too much.” Ranboo said, looking up at the glass ceiling. “Hey, do you guys wanna try something?”

“What is it, Ranboo?” Tubbo asked, also looking up at the glass above them. Tommy saw like one or two birds sitting on top of it.

“I want to try and climb those arches. I know we probably shouldn’t, but I’ve climbed a bunch at home. And the columns look a lot like trees, so we could probably get away with it.”

“You know, that’s a really cool idea, Ranboob!” Tommy said, ignoring Ranboo’s protests, “We could see the whole room and we could probably spy on some women.”

“Spy on women?” A voice piped up from behind them. “What does that mean?”

Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo (who also tried not to flinch) all turned around to see a small child, much smaller than Tubbo, standing there nervously. His eyes were brown and black, and Tommy recognized him as Fundy.

“Well, it means that we’re going to go up there and look down at people to see what they’re doing!” Tubbo said cheerfully.

“Can I come?” Fundy’s question was so innocent it made Tommy’s heart melt. “I can help you guys get up there, I think.”

“What do you mean, little guy?” Ranboo asked, crouching down to Fundy’s eye level.

“I think my grace is that I can make people see things that aren’t there. Dad called it ill-uh-soms or something.” 

“Is your dad here?” Tubbo asked. 

“Yeah!” Fundy said excitedly. “The guards came and took me away from Momma, but I found Dad here!” 

“That’s really cool, bud!” Ranboo said, still crouched. Fundy inspected him for a moment, before making grabby hands.

“You look tall. I’m going to go on your shoulders.” Ranboo laughed but complied, lifting Fundy to be much taller than Tommy. 

“Alright big guy, now let’s go climb some sh-stuff!” Tommy didn't know if Wilbur wanted his son to learn curse words yet, but he knew that if he didn’t, Wilbur would probably tear him to pieces. 

“Wait, what’s your name, bud? I’d feel really bad just calling you ‘Bud’ the whole time,” Ranboo said, bouncing Fundy up and down on his shoulders.

“My name’s Fundy! ‘S spelled F, U, N, D, Y!” Fundy said, holding onto Ranboo by putting his arms around Ranboo’s neck. The way Fundy said the letters was rather rhythmic, almost like a song.

“That’s pretty cool, you know how to spell your own name, Fundy!” Tubbo said, before pointing out a column that had few people gathered around. “We can climb that one, I think.”

“My dad made up a little song to help me ‘member! It goes like this- My-y name is Fundy, Fundy, Fundy! My-y name is Fundy, spelled F-U-N-D-Y!” He sang cheerfully, swaying from side to side on Ranboo’s tall frame. 

The tune was similar to one Tommy had heard before, something about a girl named Mary and a lamb, but he pushed the thought away.

“That’s a pretty cool song, bud! My name’s Ranboo,” Ranboo said. “Yeah, that one looks good.” 

The four of them quickly made their way over to the pillar Tubbo had pointed out, and Ranboo put Fundy down. 

Fundy ran to the wall and grabbed a potted plant and pulled it over. He seemed to look around them and concentrate really hard, but then he started to climb. 

Ranboo followed quickly, trying to keep up with the nimble 5 year-old. “Slow down Fundy! People will see us!” 

Tommy and Tubbo gave each other a look. 

Bright green and purple met dark green and brown.

Tommy shrugged, and clambered up the pillar after them.

“No they won’t! I made a ‘usom thing so they’ll just think the plant is really tall!” But, to his credit, Fundy did slow down substantially. 

Ranboo sighed. 

Below him, Tommy laughed at the poor red and green boy’s misery.

They continued to climb, and when they reached the top, Tommy looked up through the glass ceiling, watching the clouds float by just for a moment. 

“Look, all the people down there look so small! Like little toy soldiers!” Fundy pointed, and Tommy looked down and smiled.

He was right, they  _ were _ tiny. Tommy felt like he was on top of the world, if only for a moment. He searched the crowd to try and find any familiar faces, and he found Phil, Wil, and Techno talking by a different pillar.

Wilbur kept turning, messing with his shirt. Was he looking for something? 

Fundy pointed at Wilbur. “I think that’s my dad! He looks so small! Look at how small his head is!” And he seemed to measure something between two fingers, and then turned to Ranboo. “Look, his head is reeeeeeally tiny!” 

Ranboo smiled, amused by the little graced’s antics. “That’s pretty small Fundy, I wonder if you could hold him in your hand.” 

Tommy snickered at the idea of Wilbur sitting in his son’s hand. Beside him, Tubbo laughed aloud. 

“Hey guys, I think dinner is rolling around, Look up.” 

Ranboo pointed up, and Tommy followed his finger to find a setting sun. The sky was barely turning pink, but Tommy knew he was right. By the time they got down, food should be coming around.

“I don’t wanna miss dinner, but I wanna stay up here with you guys! You guys are cool,” Fundy said. 

“Well, I’m glad you think that, but we still need to get down, bud.” 

“Okaaaaay, but can you carry me on your shoulders once we get down? I wanna try to see my dad down there, and you’re the tallest, Boo.”

Boo?

That was  _ adorable. _

Tommy smiled the whole way down, and it escalated to a small chuckle once Ranboo replaced the small child on his shoulders. Maybe things would be okay here, if it all stayed like this.

**Fundy POV :3**

Fundy sat happily on Ranboo’s shoulders, glad to not be walking through the big room.

Fundy liked Boo. He was funny, and nice, and  _ tall, _ and really really nice!

Boo’s friends were really cool too. The yellow-haired one who had green and purple eyes was tall, too, but not as tall as Boo. And the brown haired one with green and brown eyes reminded him of his dad, dark hair and dark eyes, really nice.

Where was his dad? 

Peeking over the crowd, Fundy looked for a familiar beanie and warm brown and gold eyes. All he found were a bunch of people with eyes like him.

And that was kinda cool, he thought, that all these people are just like him! 

They all have weird eyes like me! 

Grandpa wouldn’t like it, he knew. Grandpa was always mean to him because of his eyes. Would Grandpa be mean to so many people? 

Did they have their own grandpas?

Still looking, Fundy spotted a familiar white mask with a smiley face on it. 

Oh, Dream! Dream took Fundy away from Momma, but Dream said he’d find people he liked.

Dream was right! He found Dad!

Dream was standing by a bunch of guards, and Fundy couldn’t tell if Dream was doing anything because the mask covered his face. 

One of the guards nodded.

Fundy’s eyes surveyed the crowd again, and he spotted a red beanie peeking out from the middle, on top of brown hair!

Dad!

Fundy leaned over Ranboo’s head, causing his perch to stumble, but Fundy sat back up, talking to Boo.

“Boo, look! That’s my Dad! Over there!” Ranboo got a little taller and his head started looking in the direction that Fundy was pointing. 

“What does he look like, bud?”

“He has the red bean hat and the brown hair, over there!” 

Was Boo looking in the right direction? Oh, he’s never met Dad before, yeah!

Ranboo seemed to find what he was looking for though, as their small group of four started moving through the crowd, aiming at a specific person. 

Fundy saw his dad getting closer and closer.

“DAD! OVER HERE!” Fundy yelled out to him. He saw his dad turn his head, and Fundy waved at him. His dad waved back.

“Hey Champion! How’re you doing? You disappeared on me, Funds,” Dad said. 

Uh oh. Dad sounded a little upset, did Fundy make him mad? Grandpa didn’t like it when Fundy made him mad.

“Sorry Dad,” Fundy said, “but I made some friends! They're really cool!” Ranboo’s hands came up to pick Fundy off of his shoulders. 

“Oh, you were with Tommy and Tubbo and…” Dad looked at Ranboo as Fundy got placed on the ground. 

“This is Boo!” Fundy said, giving him a quick hug before running over to his dad for another hug. 

“Ranboo, sir,” Boo said, holding out his hand for Dad. 

“Oh, Ranboo! The same Ranboo that Tommy snuck out with to the beach months ago?” Dad smiled and shook Ranboo’s hand.

“Uh, yeah,” Boo said, “Sorry about that.”

“Nah, it’s fine mate,” someone spoke up from behind dad, “I’m just glad he got home safe. Thanks for taking care of Fundy, by the way.”

Fundy looked up into the gold and black eyes of his Pawpaw! 

Fundy liked Pawpaw. 

Fundy tugged on Pawpaw’s pant leg to get his attention, and then asked to be picked up. 

Pawpaw complied, settling Fundy on his hip. Fundy wrapped his legs around Pawpaw in order to stay there, and gave him a big hug.

Dad and Boo kept talking, but Fundy didn’t hear much of it, since he was too busy thinking about food. 

Boo said that when they got down it would be supper time, right? Yeah. 

So Fundy was hungry now.

Castle food wasn’t too bad. They always had a bunch, but since Fundy was so small he always seemed to get there late and not get much.

Maybe Dad, Boo, Pawpaw, and Uncle Techie could help him today! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLease leave comments and kudos!!
> 
> -V

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyoooo all! Vereen and Nerd here, just wanted to check into this fandom and say we'll be here to stay :] 
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy this fanfic we created and planned out entirely within the course of a single day!


End file.
